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Austerity Treaty is bad for jobs – McDonald

Speaking
in response to reports that an EU-wide jobs pact may be agreed in advance of
the May 31st referendum,
Sinn Féin Deputy Leader Mary Lou McDonald said that: “the Austerity Treaty is
bad for jobs and bad for growth” and called for “the rejection of the Treaty
and the adoption of a significant Irish and EU-wide investment programme.”

Deputy McDonald said:

“Sinn Féin has long argued for a
major investment by the Government to get people off the dole and back into
work. Last November we called for a €7 billion investment using monies
available to the Government from the National Pension Reserve Fund and the
European Investment Bank.

“Unfortunately our calls seemed
to fall on deaf ears. Now the Government says it is in favour of stimulus. Many
people are sceptical of the Government’s motives, believing that their recent
talk of jobs is aimed at securing support for the Austerity Treaty.

“Sinn Féin will of course welcome
any serious proposal aimed at generating employment. However the idea that you
can have a serious investment programme side by side with the Austerity Treaty
is simply nonsense.

“The extra €6 billion of cuts and
tax increases arising from the Austerity Treaty will further damage the
domestic economy. This will hurt the small and medium sized sector particularly
hard leading to more job losses.

“At the same time the Austerity
Treaty will lead to a Eurozone wide contraction as all 17 member states will
seek to meet its harsh deficit targets. This will hurt our exports, already
experiencing a decline.

“The Government is telling the
voters that you can have austerity and investment in growth at the same time.
This is simply not true. On May 31st we have a clear choice – if we want
real investment in jobs and growth then we must reject the Austerity Treaty,”